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Ammonia in Cigarettes Is Found to Boost Nicotine Impact 100 Times

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From Times staff and wire reports

An Oregon scientist has found that the ammonia added to commercially made cigarettes can boost the impact of nicotine 100 times, according to a study in the August issue of the journal Environmental Science & Technology. Critics of the tobacco industry have long claimed that ammonia enhances the effect of nicotine--although tobacco companies have denied it--but the new study is the first to show how much.

The process of heightening nicotine is called “freebasing,” and is similar to the chemical process used by hard-core cocaine addicts. Like cocaine, nicotine exists in two forms--acid and base. When ammonia is added, the nicotine is converted from acid to base form. The base form is much more readily available to the body.

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